I love it when you get that feeling of accomplishment, especially when it's unexpected. All I did was write an e-mail.
I have noticed the last few months, on MTV Canada, they can say the word "shit" now, just like on Muchmusic. Well, I should hope so, now that both channels are now owned by the same company, CTV. Actually, I thought the reverse would happen, that after CTV's takeover of CHUM (where they had to divest themselves of CITY-TV, now owned by Rogers), CTV would can Muchmusic personalities from saying "shit." But no, CTV is continuing to let that word go and has now extended the practice to their MTV channel that CTV had started prior to the CHUM takeover.
Could that be as a result of my self-explanatory e-mail to MTV Canada's feedback address this past January?
That e-mail, through the magic of copy and paste, goes like this:
"Regarding your 'Top Ten Holy Shit Moments' show you aired at Christmas: Isn't it ironic that, while on another show similiar to this one you also aired around Christmas, you appear to be taking a potshot at Muchmusic and the kind of young audience they cater to nowadays, on the Top Ten Holy Shit Moments show on MTV, every time you actually say the word 'shit,' it's bleeped out, while Muchmusic has been letting that word air for years and years now. I recall a Much On Demand where Leah Miller appeared to be deliberately saying it all through the hour, so I was wondering if she had just found out that day that Much lets it air unbleeped. But that practice must go back, gosh, about 10 years by now.
"And, to add further irony, Much and MTV are both owned by CTV now. Do the CTV honchos know that 'shit' airs on Much, the target audience channel of ages 10-25, but is bleeped on MTV, the target audience channel of college age and higher?
"Maybe the Much people don't want to bring that up to their new CTV bosses, because that could be the way they find that out, and then they'll can that practice. Personally, I hope it goes the other way and you get to say 'shit' unbleeped. I would love it if you could find a way to air all your shows that air, say, late at night, completely language uncensored. Only bleep stuff during the day. I realize why that can't happen, though."
I hit "send" and.....voila! There's Daryn Jones & Nicole saying "shit" on MTV Live. Not bad.
This, of course, represents another baby-step in the repositioning of all cuss words to just being slang words. Another one is the movies CTV airs overnight on weekends that are completely uncensored, too, if they can get an uncensored cut. The envelope is getting pushed, baby.
And, as a dude with the rock and roll attitude that used to host a hard rock TV show, the fact that I could be held a little bit partially responsible for this evolution is, well, yeah, something to be proud of. Something to be FUCKING proud of, dude! YEAH!
(And, hey, that also means Much and MTV Canada can say the entire title of William Shatner's new sitcom "Shit My Dad Says" on air! The subject of this blog post coupled with this sitcom's title could add another baby-step to all this, too, as the days march on.)
Me during the broadcast of "Much On Demand" outside in front of the Muchmusic building in Toronto, ON on September 25, 2003.
